Airplane and snowplane propulsion means



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ap 16, 1940. c. M. BREMNER AIRPLANE AND SNOWPLANE PROPULSION MEANS Filed Oct. 6, 1937 APl'l 15, 1940. c. M. BRVEMNER 2.197.293

AIRPLANE AND SNOWPLANE PROPULSION MEANS Filed OCt. 6, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented pr. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES AIRPLANE AND SNOWPLANE PROPULSION lWEANS Claude M. Brenmer, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, assigner of two-thirds to Maurice C. Marcotte and Donald A. Marcotte, both of Hudson Bay Junction, Saskatchewan, Canada Application October 6, 1937, Serial No. 167,539 In Canada October 5, 1936 4 Claims'.

This invention relates to improvements in air# plane and snowplane propulsion means and an object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herein described which is designed to be mounted upon either side of the body of the machine it -is intended to propel and to perform l in the manner of a paddle-wheel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herein described which is equipped with means whereby the angular relation between the common plane of the paddles and the vertical may be varied at the will ci the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herein described which will enable a plane to be steered by changing the speed of the paddles with relation to each other.

A further object of the invention is to providea device of the character herein described which is simple to construct and will not easily become out of order.

With the above more important objects in View and such other minor objects as may appear as the specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a vertical sectional View of my improved type of propulsion means.

Fig 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 Figure 1. l A

Fig. 3 shows an end view of one of the radial arms illustrating the manner in `which the pitch of the paddles may be varied.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the manner in which the blades of the paddles overlap.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the dilierent iigures.

This invention consists of a central drive shaft l which is provided with a `cap 2 at the outer end thereof. A gear housing 3 is fastened to thev cap by means of screws 4 and from this housing Aextends a pair of hollow radial arms 5 terminating at the outer ends in further gear housings, 6.

A rotatable sleeve 5', mounted upon the bearings 1, surrounds the drive shaft I. These bearings are designed to be secured to the machine which it is desired to propel, by. bolts passed through the lugs 8. A bevelled pinion 9 is fastened to the inner end of the sleeve and is designed. to intermesh with a somewhat smaller pinion l0 keyed to the end of a control spindle H,

provided with a hand wheel l2 at the outer end thereof.

A still further bevelled pinion i3 is attached to the end of the sleeve within the housing 3. Revolvable shafts lll extend through the hollow' arms 5 and are furnished. at the inner and outer ends thereof with `bevelled pinions I5 and IB respectively which'possess pitch diametersequal to that of the pinion i3. AIt should be mentioned that the inner pinions l5 are designed'to engage continuously with the` pinion I3.

From the structure already set forth, it will be evident thatrotation of the drive shaft l will revolve the gear housings andsupporting arms whereas turning the. hand wheel I2 will impart a rotative movement to the end pinions l5. f

Aligned oriiices I6 and l1 are formed within the'gear housings 6, the axis of the orices being parallel to that of the drive shaft l.- Within each pair of these orifices is inserted the reduced end ll" of a cylindrical casing I8, the shoulder i9 between the smaller and larger portions thereof together with the encircling flange 2t serving to maintain the casing in position and to prevent disengagement thereof from the gear housing;y

Slidably mounted within each of the casings i3 is a rod 2l. The greater portion offthis rod within the enlarged section of the casing I8 is flattened as at IS' and provided with a plurality of equi-spaced studs 22 for a purpose presently to be explained. The rod itself passes through a small boss 23 at the end of `the casingand also through an orice formed by internally producing the flange 2D.

A small pin 24 is passed diametrically through each of the rods 2l and compressive springs 25 are interposed between these pins and the flange 2l). To the end of each rod is secured a short laterally extending linger 26 between the nuts 21. A rotatably mounted follower 21 isattached to the outer end of these ngers which are designed to roll upon stationary cams 28 made integral with the rea-router surface of the gear casings t. These cams slope smoothly from a single projection 29vto a single opposing depression 3l! and they .are so vpositioned upon the casing that the follower will be in the base of the depression when the Acasing is at its highest point of revolution.

When the casing is in its lowest position, the follower willfbe upon the peak of the cam. Thus it will' be apparent that `if the casings lS are rotated with relation. to the gear housings 6, the n rods will tend to oscillate longitudinally making a complete cycle for each revolution of the device. .55

The follower is, of course, kept in engagement with the cam by means of the compression spring 25.

Eccentrically positioned upon each of the casings I8 are a plurality of equi-spaced bearings 3l which are designed to carry the blades 32. These blades consist of a cylindrical central portion 33 from either end of which protrude spatue late shaped members 34. These members each have a lenticular cross-sectional configuration and when in the closed position over-lap slightly as illustrated in Figure 4.

A short link 35 is secured to each of the cylindrical portions 33 and is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 36 therein. These slots are designed to receive the studs 22 so that a longitudinal movement of the rods will cause the blades to rotate in unison. The movement of the rods is such that the blades will be rotated through an angle of as the rods move between the two extreme positions thereof.

In order that movement of the hand wheel may be transmitted to the casings I8, a bevelled gear 31 having a pitch equal to that of the gears I3, I 5 and IG is attached to each `of the casings within the housings 6 immediately beneath the cams 28.

It should be understood that although the drawings illustrate only a device possessing a single pair of arms, any number of arms may be secured upon the shaft It without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The construction of my invention having been set forth, the method of operation thereof will now be described.

A device of the character described is attached to both sides of the machine it is desired to propel and if convenient, they may be secured to both ends of a common crank-shaft. The crankshaft would, of course, be horizontally disposed in l order that any point in the propelling means may rotate in a vertical plane.

The hand wheel is held stationary and the device is rotated through the drive shaft I. When this occurs, the gear housings and supporting arms will, of course, rotate but the axes of the blades 32 will always remain parallel to a common plane. This is due to the fact that as the pinion I3 is maintained in a stationary position, the shafts I 4 will be rotated as the device revolves which will, of course, turn the gears IG which mesh with the pinions 3'! upon the ends of the casing I9.

It will be noted, however, that the pinions I 3,

I5, I6 and 31 are all of the same size so that thel motion imparted by the gear I3 to the pinion I5 is reversed by the pinions I5 and 31 causing the casing I9 and consequently the blades 32 to remain parallel to a single plane.

It should be noted, however, that this plane may be changed at the will of the operator by merely turning the hand wheel I2 at which time the blades may be made to assume either of the positions shown in Figure 3 or any intermediate positions.

The feature referred to in the last paragraph is of great importance especially when the device is to be used to propel aircraft as it enables the aviator to obtain a vertical or lifting force component from the propellers themselves. When used with either airplanes or snowplanes, changing the angle of either one of the two propelling devices may be used as a steering medium for it will be understood that as the blades are turned from a vertical position, a vertical force component is introduced which of course decreases the horizontal component. If therefore the angle of the blades of one of the dual propellers is changed from a vertical position, the horizontal component thereof will be reduced and the ship will tendto move in a circle.

As the device is rotating and as the casing I9 remains parallel to a single plane, the follower 21' will move around the cylindrical cams 28 once for every revolution of the device. This movement will cause the rods 2I to oscillate through a single cycle each time the structure revolves. The blades will therefore be turned from a closed position at their lowest point of revolution to an open position at their highest point as clearlyillustrated in Figure 1.

Consequently, as each set of blades moves below the drive shaft', it will close and therefore offer a great deal more resistance to the air than the open blades above the drive shaft. This arrangement causes the device to impel the air in a single direction, thereby propelling the device to which it is attached.

From the foregoing, it will now be evident that I have invented a highly ingenious type of propulsion device which gives not only motive power but may also be used for steering purposes both in airplanes and snowplanes.

Since various modifications can be made in the above invention, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same, made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that-all matters contained in the accompanying specications shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense, and I desire only such limitations placed `thereon as are specically expressed in the accompanying claims.

What I claim as my invention'is:

l. A propulsion device comprising in combination with a rotatable shaft, a hollow arm attached thereto, a spindle extending through said arm, a .gear fastened to each end of said spindle, a

sleeve surrounding said shaft, a pinion secured tached to said casing, said last mentioned pinion 1l engaging with the other of said gears, a rotatable blade extending transversely through said casing, a rod extending longitudinally through said casing, a cam upon said gear housing, a follower attached to said rod, said follower and said cam f being designed to impart an oscillating movement to said rod, a link connecting said rod and said blade, the movement of said rod being adapted to rotate said blade.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 in which said sleeve may be rotated independently of said shaft. y

3. A propulsion device comprising in combination with a rotatable shaft, a plurality of radial arms secured thereto, rotatable spindles within each of said arms, gears attached to the ends of said spindles, a sleeve surrounding said shaft, a pinion fastened thereto engageable with one of said gears upon each ofsaid spindles, a housing at the end of each arm, a rotatable casing mounted within each housing, a pinion attached to each of said casings, said last mentioned pinions being adapted to engage with the re maining gears upon said spindles', a plurality of rotatable blades mounted transversely within -edgewise to the direction of travel in certain selected angular positions of said arms'.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3 in which means are provided to rotate said sleeve to Vary the angle between the longitudinal axes of-said 5 blades and any xed piane.

, CLAUDE M. BREMNER. 

